| Economy | Germany |
 = Fields  = World Records  = Dictionary  = Bar graph  = Distribution map  = Fields History  = Definitions |
Economy - overview:
|
The German economy - the fifth largest economy in the world in PPP terms and Europe's largest - is a leading exporter of machinery, vehicles, chemicals, and household equipment and benefits from a highly skilled labor force. Like its western European neighbors, Germany faces significant demographic challenges to sustained long-term growth. Low fertility rates and declining net immigration are increasing pressure on the country's social welfare system and necessitate structural reforms. Reforms launched by the government of Chancellor Gerhard SCHROEDER (1998-2005), deemed necessary to address chronically high unemployment and low average growth, contributed to strong growth in 2006 and 2007 and falling unemployment. These advances, as well as a government subsidized, reduced working hour scheme, help explain the relatively modest increase in unemployment during the 2008-09 recession - the deepest since World War II - and its decrease to 6.0% in 2011. GDP contracted 5.1% in 2009 but grew by 3.6% in 2010, and 2.7% in 2011. The recovery was attributable primarily to rebounding manufacturing orders and exports - increasingly outside the Euro Zone. Germany's central bank projects that GDP will grow 0.6% in 2012, a reflection of the worsening euro-zone financial crisis and the financial burden it places on Germany as well as falling demand for German exports. Domestic demand is therefore becoming a more significant driver of Germany's economic expansion. Stimulus and stabilization efforts initiated in 2008 and 2009 and tax cuts introduced in Chancellor Angela MERKEL's second term increased Germany's budget deficit to 3.3% in 2010, but slower spending and higher tax revenues reduce the deficit to 1.7% in 2011, below the EU's 3% limit. A constitutional amendment approved in 2009 limits the federal government to structural deficits of no more than 0.35% of GDP per annum as of 2016. |
GDP (purchasing power parity):
|
$3.085 trillion (2011 est.)
$3.003 trillion (2010 est.)
$2.9 trillion (2009 est.)
note: data are in 2011 US dollars |
GDP - per capita (PPP):
|
$37,900 (2011 est.)
$36,800 (2010 est.)
$35,500 (2009 est.)
note: data are in 2011 US dollars |
GDP (official exchange rate):
|
$3.629 trillion (2011 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate:
|
2.7% (2011 est.)
3.6% (2010 est.)
-5.1% (2009 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector:
|
agriculture: 0.8%
industry: 28.1%
services: 71% (2011 est.) |
Investment (gross fixed):
|
18.8% of GDP (2011 est.) |
Population below poverty line:
|
15.5% (2010 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
|
lowest 10%: 3.6%
highest 10%: 24% (2000) |
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
|
27 (2006)
30 (1994) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
|
2.2% (2011 est.)
1.1% (2010 est.) |
Central bank discount rate:
|
1.75% (31 December 2010)
1.75% (31 December 2009)
note: this is the European Central Bank's rate on the marginal lending facility, which offers overnight credit to banks in the euro area |
Commercial bank prime lending rate:
|
8.4% (31 December 2011 est.)
4.96% (31 December 2009 est.) |
Stock of money:
|
$NA
note: see entry for the European Union for money supply in the euro area; the European Central Bank (ECB) controls monetary policy for the 16 members of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU); individual members of the EMU do not control the quantity of money and quasi money circulating within their own borders |
Stock of money - per capita:
|
void |
Stock of quasi money:
|
$NA |
Stock of quasi money - per capita:
|
void |
Stock of domestic credit:
|
$4.689 trillion (31 December 2011 est.)
$5.2 trillion (31 December 2009 est.) |
Stock of domestic credit - per capita:
|
57,554 USD per capita |
Stock of narrow money:
|
$1.831 trillion (31 December 2011 est.)
$1.747 trillion (31 December 2010 est.)
note: see entry for the European Union for money supply in the euro area; the European Central Bank (ECB) controls monetary policy for the 17 members of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU); individual members of the EMU do not control the quantity of money circulating within their own borders |
Stock of broad money:
|
$4.437 trillion (31 December 2011 est.)
$4.173 trillion (31 December 2010 est.) |
Labor force:
|
43.59 million (2011 est.) |
Labor force participation rate:
|
53.50 % of population |
Labor force - by occupation:
|
agriculture: 2.4%
industry: 29.7%
services: 67.8% (2005) |
Unemployment rate:
|
6% (2011 est.)
7.1% (2010 est.)
note: this is the International Labor Organization's estimated rate for international comparisons; Germany's Federal Employment Agency estimated a seasonally adjusted rate of 10.8% |
Unemployment, youth ages 15-24:
|
total: 11%
male: 12%
female: 9.8% (2009) |
Budget:
|
revenues: $1.582 trillion
expenditures: $1.643 trillion (2011 est.) |
Budget revenues per capita:
|
19,418 USD per capita |
Taxes and other revenues:
|
43.6% of GDP (2011 est.) |
Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-):
|
-1.7% of GDP (2011 est.) |
Public debt:
|
81.5% of GDP (2011 est.)
83.4% of GDP (2010 est.)
note: general government gross debt is defined in the Maastricht Treaty as consolidated general government gross debt at nominal value, outstanding at the end of the year in the following categories of government liabilities (as defined in ESA95): currency and deposits (AF.2), securities other than shares excluding financial derivatives (AF.3, excluding AF.34), and loans (AF.4); the general government sector comprises the sub-sectors of central government, state government, local government and social security funds; the series are presented as a percentage of GDP and in millions of euro; GDP used as a denominator is the gross domestic product at current market prices; data expressed in national currency are converted into euro using end-year exchange rates provided by the European Central Bank |
Industries:
|
among the world's largest and most technologically advanced producers of iron, steel, coal, cement, chemicals, machinery, vehicles, machine tools, electronics, food and beverages, shipbuilding, textiles |
Industrial production growth rate:
|
6.7% (2011 est.) |
Electricity - production:
|
556.4 billion kWh (2009 est.) |
Electricity - production per capita:
|
6,830 kWh per capita |
Electricity - consumption:
|
544.5 billion kWh (2008 est.) |
Electricity - consumption - per capita:
|
6,684 kWh per capita |
Electricity - exports:
|
54.13 billion kWh (2009 est.) |
Electricity - imports:
|
12.28 billion kWh (2009 est.) |
Oil - production:
|
147,200 bbl/day (2010 est.) |
Oil - production per capita:
|
1,807 bbl/day per capita |
Oil - consumption:
|
2.495 million bbl/day (2010 est.) |
Oil - consumption - per capita:
|
11.18 bbl/year per capita |
Oil - exports:
|
470,200 bbl/day (2009 est.) |
Oil - imports:
|
2.671 million bbl/day (2009 est.) |
Oil - proved reserves:
|
276 million bbl (1 January 2011 est.) |
Natural gas - production:
|
12.65 billion cu m (2010 est.) |
Natural gas - production per capita:
|
156 cu m per capita |
Natural gas - consumption:
|
99.5 billion cu m (2010 est.) |
Natural gas - consumption - per capita:
|
1,222 cu m per capita |
Natural gas - exports:
|
16.19 billion cu m (2010 est.) |
Natural gas - imports:
|
99.63 billion cu m (2010 est.) |
Natural gas - proved reserves:
|
175.6 billion cu m (1 January 2011 est.) |
Agriculture - products:
|
potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, cabbages; cattle, pigs, poultry |
Current account balance:
|
$149.3 billion (2011 est.)
$188.4 billion (2010 est.) |
Current account balance - per capita:
|
1,833 USD per capita |
Exports:
|
$1.543 trillion (2011 est.)
$1.303 trillion (2010 est.) |
Exports per capita:
|
18,940 USD per capita |
Exports - commodities:
|
machinery, vehicles, chemicals, metals and manufactures, foodstuffs, textiles |
Exports - partners:
|
France 10.1%, US 6.7%, UK 6.6%, Netherlands 6.6%, Italy 6.3%, Austria 5.7%, Belgium 5.2%, China 4.7%, Switzerland 4.5% (2009) |
Imports:
|
$1.339 trillion (2011 est.)
$1.099 trillion (2010 est.) |
Imports per capita:
|
16,436 USD per capita |
Imports - commodities:
|
machinery, vehicles, chemicals, foodstuffs, textiles, metals |
Imports - partners:
|
Netherlands 13%, France 8.2%, Belgium 7.2%, China 6.8%, Italy 5.6%, UK 4.7%, Austria 4.4%, US 4.2%, Switzerland 4.1% (2009) |
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
|
$216.5 billion (31 December 2010 est.)
$216.5 billion (31 December 2010 est.) |
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold - per capita:
|
2,658 USD per capita |
Debt - external:
|
$5.624 trillion (30 June 2011)
$4.713 trillion (30 June 2010) |
Debt - external - per capita:
|
69,030 USD per capita |
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
|
$998.1 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
$956.6 billion (31 December 2010 est.) |
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home - per capita:
|
12,251 USD per capita |
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
|
$1.486 trillion (31 December 2011 est.)
$1.427 trillion (31 December 2010 est.) |
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad - per capita:
|
18,240 USD per capita |
Market value of publicly traded shares:
|
$1.43 trillion (31 December 2010)
$1.298 trillion (31 December 2009)
$1.108 trillion (31 December 2008) |
Market value of publicly traded shares - per capita:
|
17,553 USD per capita |
Currency (code):
|
euro (EUR) |
Exchange rates:
|
euros (EUR) per US dollar -
0.7107 (2011 est.)
0.755 (2010 est.)
0.7198 (2009 est.)
0.6827 (2008 est.)
0.7345 (2007 est.) |
Fiscal year:
|
calendar year |
|
= Fields = World Records = Dictionary = Bar graph = Distribution map = Fields History = Definitions |
|
Home 
Geographic Names
Chiefs of State
Intl. Organizations
Intl. Environmental Agree.
Other References
